On the eve of a high-level meeting between the United States and China in the United States, nine students, including six Americans, were arrested and forcibly tested for drugs by Chinese security officials at New York University Shanghai (NYU Shanghai), and were released only after all of them tested negative. The incident sparked concern from all sides. New York University in Shanghai issued a statement on the 22nd, requesting more information from Shanghai authorities so that the university could understand what happened that night, but the Chinese public security authorities in Shanghai have not yet responded.
The Washington Post last week quoted NYU faculty and students as saying that nine students from the university were arrested in two groups by Communist Party security officials on March 12. One of the men and one of the women was injured during the arrest. Of the nine arrested, six were from the United States. The Shanghai Public Security Bureau told NYU Shanghai that this was part of an anti-drug operation in Shanghai.
A statement provided to the Associated Press by NYU Shanghai said none of the detained students were found to have used or possessed drugs, and none were arrested, the Associated Press reported on 22 June. “But the Shanghai police bringing students in for drug testing in an effort to combat drugs was frightening for our students …… Since then, we have been providing support to affected students.”
“We are currently seeking additional information from the city government to better understand last weekend’s police action,” the university’s statement said. Shanghai police did not immediately respond to a request for comment, the report said.
On March 12, nine students from New York University in Shanghai were detained by Shanghai police on two separate occasions. One was at a bar and the other at a private birthday party. The former involved two American students, one male and one female. The Washington Post reported that the male student arrested at the bar was kicked in the head by a public security officer, and the female student suffered bruises when plainclothes officers tried to make an arrest. The student, who requested anonymity, said, “The boy was actually kicked in the head by the police and bled. They didn’t have an interpreter and didn’t know what was going on. They were just trying to call the public safety department at the NYU Shanghai campus. The girl was beaten because she was trying to get away from the two plainclothes officers who were not wearing police signs.” And both of the Parents are U.S. Department of Defense employees.
The second occasion involved seven students, from the United States, Finland, Morocco and Malaysia. “They were released after being tested negative for drugs, between 11 and 16 hours each,” the Washington Post quoted school spokeswoman June Shih as saying, “The university doesn’t know why the Chinese Communist authorities detained each one at this birthday party. ” She believes that “the police are focusing on one specific individual.”
Because the incident occurred before a high-level meeting between the U.S. and China and Alaska, there was speculation about whether it was related to political factors such as the deterioration of U.S.-China relations.
David Pe, director of student affairs at NYU Shanghai, was quick to deny the speculation about political reasons. “The Washington Post article implies that our students may have been targeted for political reasons because some of them are U.S. citizens,” said an email sent by Peng Hanzhi to all students in the early morning hours of March 18, Beijing Time.
“Based on our current knowledge of the incident, we have no evidence to support this belief. This is because, first, bar staff and patrons were also detained in the drug sweep, and second, this sweep is consistent with other law enforcement actions against drugs that we are familiar with, or have previously known about.”
A Chinese student at New York University, who asked not to be named, argued that “the people who were taken away did not commit any direct violations of the law,” and that the police, in the “absence of valid evidence,” “should not take strong and overly aggressive tactics.”
He does not believe that foreign nationals should receive special treatment in China, “but hopes that the police will take into account language and cultural differences in their enforcement of the law.”
The Washington Post quoted the State Department as saying that “China’s legal system can be opaque, enforcement of local laws can be arbitrary,” and that the Chinese judicial system “does not enjoy independence from political influence.”
A State Department spokesperson said, “We are aware of the detention and subsequent release of a number of U.S. citizens in Shanghai, China. We stand ready to provide all appropriate consular services.”
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